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If The Rumors Are True, Samsung's Galaxy S9 Will Not Be Able To Compete With The IPhone X

It's time to get excited about smartphones again because the new year is just around the corner, and that means Samsung's next flagship phone -- unofficially dubbed the Galaxy S9 -- is nearing its official release.

Expectations are high for Samsung heading into 2018, and most mobile tech enthusiasts expect the company to introduce a smartphone that blows away its chief rival, the iPhone X. We're still months away from the Galaxy S9's official unveiling, but thanks to a steady stream of leaks, there's a lot of credible information already available.

Phone makers typically haven't used CES as a stage for their new phones in years past. And if Samsung were to announce the new phone at a big tech show instead of at its own event, Mobile World Congress, a mobile technology show held in Barcelona during the last week of February, would be a much better place to do it.

When can we buy one?

If Samsung follows tradition, we can can presume the phone will be available for purchase one month after its announcement. Reports currently peg the phone's release for March.

Rumors suggest the smaller S9 will stick to a 5.8-inch display and the S9+ will have a 6.2-inch screen. These are the same display sizes as the S8 and S8+.

Both phones will probably sport the company's signature curved edges on both the front and back. As for the bezels, that's still unclear. Earlier rumors hinted at the possibility of Samsung eliminating the "chin" and stretching the screen all the way to the bottom of the device.

Phone leaker and 3D concept artist Benjamin Geskin created a render of what this Galaxy S9 could look like:

Samsung's been perfecting OLED screens for years -- the Note 8 has the brightest screen on a phone ever at a whopping 1,200 nits -- but colors tend to be more saturated and less lifelike. It's possible Samsung could apply some of the secret sauce that goes into the more color-accurate OLED screens it supplies for the iPhone X.

The iris scanner is much more secure because it takes a read of your unique iris, but it's not nearly as fast as the facial recognition. Its stronger security, however means it's airtight enough for Samsung Pay.

Pricing the S9 and S9+ around the $1,000 range is sure to upset many customers who are used to paying $700-800 for the latest and greatest. But with the Note 8 and iPhone X proving that people are willing to pay more to get more value, we wouldn't be surprised if the S9 comes with a higher sticker price than the S8.

And as we've noted many times before, monthly payment plans that split the cost of the full phone make $1,000 phones easier to purchase.

All the things we don't now yet

These leaks have painted a nice picture of the S9 and S9+, but there's still a lot we don't know.

Will the S9 have a real answer to Face ID? What about Animoji? Will it finally have stereo speakers? What version of Android (hopefully Android 8.0 Oreo) will it run and will it come with any revamps that'll make people despise TouchWiz less?

The leaks will almost certainly continue dripping out over the next few weeks as we inch closer to the S9's announcement. For now, it's all rumors and speculation, so don't read too much into them. They may prove to be completely wrong come next year. Wouldn't that be something?